Rope twisting and laying machine



Aug. 12, 1941. A. KRAFT ROPE TWISTI NG AND LAY ING MACHINE Filed Sept. 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A, KRAFT ROPE TWISTING AND LAYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 6, 1940 ing out of the same.

Patented Aug. 12,1941

2,252,465 ROPE 'rwrs'rmc AND LAYING moms Anton Kraft, Olpe, Germany Application September 6, 1940, Serial No. 355,659

In Germany December 4, 1939 3 Claims. (01. 57-58) Rope twisting machines are known, which are equipped with a winding spool for the ready rope and with a frame circulating around said spool.

The material for twisting is conducted along the circulating frame in being submitted to back .turning. An arrangement is made, to :pull into pulling-in disc coupled with the machine drive is mounted. in a body in the circulating frame, said body remaining in theposition of rest, the rope being wound several times around this pull ing-in disc. From this pulling-in disc therope is wound by means of a laying mechanism upon the winding spool also coupled with the machine drive.

Machines of this type are of rather complicated construction and relatively long. The longer the circulating frame is, the greater become the resistances and checkings preventing a rapid speed of the machine. As further durin the service the number of the rope turns wound around the winding spool and therewitli the diameter of the wound body become continually greater, .the length of the product wound on changes at every rotation of the winding spool.

Consequently strong pulls and tensile stresses are produced in the finished product between the pulling-in disc and the winding spool. This causes, however, when fine and soft material is worked, for instance strands, preiudicial alteration in cross section owing to the stretching-of the rope material.

For this reason the revolving speed of the winding spool must be continually supervised and from time to time adapted to the other existing conditions, this being rather difficult. As ajrule,

' partly the difierenes which occur in the machine between the introducing of the rope and the pull-.

These inconveniences are done away with on the one hand by the free pulling-in of the material directly by the winding spool itself, which means with omission of. any intermediate element, on the travel from the machine axis to the spool, whereas on the other hand a direct dependency between the drive or the, winding spool and the-pulling into the machine is obtained thereby that the unwinding of the finthat'the rope-is pulled by the winding spool directly into the machine, which with this object in view is driven by an endless belt circulating with uniform speed and wound under spring tension around the wound up rope material on a portion of the circumference of the spool. One of. the-two guide rollers for the endless belt is mounted on a sliding body shiftable relative to the body in the framework, said sliding body being shifted under the action of a spring for pressing the endlessbelt against the wound rope. The sliding body is equipped with racks, in. which mesh toothed wheels on a shaft journalled in the body in the frame,the tension spring being helically wound on said shaft and fixed so that it brakes the turning movement of the shaft.

.Besides a simpler construction and much lower cost of production, a circulating speedincrealsed in comparison with that of the known machines and thereby a considerably increased efficiency are obtained.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the sliding body on line IIIIII of Fig. 1,

4 is a vertical sectionon line IVIV of Fig. l and Fig. 5 a vertical section on line V-V. of Fig. l,

the endless belt being removed, and I,

Fig. 6 a similar sectionas Fig. 4 being viewed from the outer side.

In the floor stands I and 2 of the machine I frame a circulating frame revolves which consists of transverse elements 3 and 4 and connecting tubes 5. The transverse element 3 has on its, outer side a hollow shaft 3a and on its inner side an extension 3b,.on which the body 6 is suspended. The transverse element I has on its outer side a shaft journal la. and on its in ner side a hollow pin lb for the suspension of the body a. 0n the outwit of the shaft 4a a pulley 'l for awedge-shaped belt is keyed, which is coupled with the source of power and is destined to operate the machine, whereas on the inwardly directed free end a driving worm s is keyed, which is coupled witha worm wheel 8 on the body I and destined to drivethe mechanism for the winding and laying of the readyproduct. 0n the outwardly directed side of the floor stand l'-a stationary separating plate ll. ismounted centrioally to the shaft to,

rdly directed free end body 6.

the wires ii and I2 01- the material are twisted being introduced by means of this separating plate I, In the circulating frame the body 6. is suspended in the stable equilibrium position on the pins 3b and 4b of the transverse elements 3 and 4, said body remaining in the position of rest during service. With this object in view the transversely extending portions 6a of the body 6 are suspended on the screws i6 which connect the two halves I3 and i341 of the bearing. The

" bearing halves i3 and I30, transmit the load of the body to the pins 3b and 4b. Change wheels "serve to drive the mechanism arranged on the body and destined for winding and laying the finished product. The ratio of transmission of these changing wheels is adapted from case to case to the existing decisive conditions. such as transverse shaft l6. On the inner end of this transverse shaft IS a toothed wheel 26 is keyed which meshes with a toothed wheel 2| on a trans verse shaft 22. Inside the body 6 a driving roller 23 is keyed on shaft 22, said roller destined to drive anendless belt 24 circulating in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the machine. This endless belt 24 is conducted over rollers 25 and 26 arranged the one above the other, the

. lower roller 26 being mounted on the body 6 and the upper rol1er'26 on a sliding body 42 on the During its circulation in the lower range of the winding spool 26 around which the finished rope has to be wound the endless belt is pressed against the wound up material. The winding spool 26 removably mounted on the transverse shaft 23 is thus rotated. This spool 26 in turn drives the mechanism for the actuation ofthe laying nut 36a moving to and fro on the screw threadedspindle 36 and eifecting the laying of the rope or strand on the spool 26. This is attained in that the' toothed wheel 33 meshing with the toothed wheel3l on shaft 32' rotates together with the spool 26. A second toothed wheel34 is keyed on shaft 32 and ecupled with the toothed wheel 36 mounted on the spring and shiftable in guide grooves in thecheeks of the body 0. The slidable body 42 has racks'42a (Figs. 3 and on. both outer ends, these racks meshing with toothed wheels 43 on Y the transverse shaft 44 'Joumalled. in the body '.6'.""ln the middle of shaft 44 a spiral spring is fixed which is wound around the shaft and extends towards bothsides of'this shaft, the free ends of this spiral spring 46 being fixed on the body 6 so that the toothed wheels 43 ,havethe tendency to shift upward the slidable body 42 by the action of this spring. In the form of construction illustrated, the tree ends of the spiral spring 46 terminate eaclidn e'yella, these eyes being hooked-Eon atrans've'rse rod '46 fixed diameter of the wound body "on spool 26 increases, the slidable bodyr42 is moved more and more downw r s, Owi tc'the increased .tension of the endless band 24, in overcoming the oppositely directed tension'of thespring 46, so that the endless band 24 can adapt itself automatically to the actual thickness of the wound body' on spool 26.

Tomake it possible that the circulating frame can be selectively turned in the .one or other direction of rotation, a second driving worm (Fig. 2) with screw-threads directed oppositely to the worm wheel 8 may be mounted on th transverseshaft l6.

the transverses 3 and 4, and on the other end a guide roller 36 from'which the rope or strand 21 is conducted through one of the connecting tubes} and then' on the side of the transverse 4 over guide rollers 36, 31 deflected again into the direction of the axis of the machine.

After having come out of the hollow pin 4b the In into the hollow shaft 3a of themachine and deflected again from the axis of the machine over the roller 3l, the two rollers 36 and again over the roller 31 of the transverse 4. To the wires II, l2 the first twisting is imparted behind.

the separatingplate i6 and prior to the introin the same direction takes. place infront of the worm 6 when the twisted wires come out of the hollow pin 4b. From here the finished'rope or strand 21 is fed directly between the guide pins 36b of the displacing nut 36a to the winding spool 26. This winding spool is driven by the endless band 24. Instead of this endless band. an endless belt of leather straps of wedgeshaped cross-section may be used. By means] of exchangeable toothed wheels i1, i6. 26, and 2| (Fig. 2) which are selected in accordance with the existing conditions, J the drive of the endless band 24 is coupled with the machine drive, so that a continual accurateequalisation of the length of the winding on, to -thespo'ol 26 and of the drawing of the twistedmaterial into the machine takes place. Asfurther the laying mechanism of the reciprocating traveliing'nut 36a is coupled with the spool 26 by changezwh'eels 33, 32,14, and as (Fig. '2) also adapted to the actual conditions, the windings-of the product 1 are laid accurately the-one atthe siderof the other without any overlapping "or' other irregu larities. When the diameter ofithe wound body on spool 26 increases, an equalisation of the tension of the endless band 24. by corresp'onding lowering of the 'slidable body 42 controlled by spring takes placem w le -:53:

Instead of the twisting machineshownby-way of example, in which the amaterial is twisted partly in front of the machineandiipartly iwhen 1 Passing through e me. -other;.ztwistinshmachines; may be equipped withqthe-welem'entst acizicordin g. to the invention inhwhichiithefitwlsted on t [above the'shaftg. when; the .6...material is forcedatocarry. out bac twistinss,

A guide roller 31 is arranged at one end of Q a holder 36 in a slot [4 (Fig. 4) of the hubs of i2 (Fig. 1) ass, through holes in the stationary separating plate duction into the machine. 'A second twisting.

as is absolutely'necessary, for instance, at the twisting of. hard wire material. Twisting machines. may also be equipped with the elements according to the invention in which machines uniformly directed twistings are brought into the'bundle of wires when passing through the machine, these twistings being continually used in the opposite twisting direction for beating the wire rope or strand on -a presscheek.

I claim: 1. A twisting machine with a spool for winding up the finished rope, comprising in combination belt driven at uniform speed and driving said winding spool, and springs for pressing said endless belt against a portion of the circumference of the rope wound on said winding spool.

2. Machine as specifiedin claim 1, comprising in combination with the endless belt, guide rollers for this endless belt, a shiftable sliding body mounted in said circulating frame, and a spring adapted to shift said sliding body so that it presses the endless belt against the wound rope.

3. Machine as specified in amm comprising a shiftable sliding body, racks 0mm ends of said sliding body, a shaft in the the circulating frame, toothed wheels on said-shaft meshing with said racks, and a clamping spring helically wound on said shaft and fixed so that 15 it brakes the rotary movement of said shaft.

ANTON 

